Little Devil Inside burst onto the scene at last year’s online PS5 reveal, as part of Sony's wider “Future of Gaming” initiative. Among a slew of sleek-looking title, this colorful RPG sailed into view, promising something different from most ordinary games. Described by its developer, Neostream, as an “exploration-focused survival action RPG”, Little Devil Inside offers single-player and cooperative modes to sink your teeth into.
Sure, the premise may sound like well-trodden ground, but this isn't an ordinary game. You play as Billy, who joins the ranks of a research team as they explore their surroundings and hunt down local fauna.
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The goal of this monster-hunting expedition is to pull together a complete encyclopedia of supernatural occurrences. Where do we sign up?
Here's everything we know about Little Devil Inside, including its release date window and its trailer.
Little Devil Inside release date
Those familiar with Little Devil Inside already know that the seeds of the project existed as far back as 2015. Back then, it was slated to launch on the Wii U as early as 2016. Fast-forward to 2021, and Little Devil Inside looks set to launch on a whole gamut of platforms, including the PC, PS5 and Xbox One, plus older consoles like the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
The game's development is a marathon, not a sprint. Neostream's business development director, John Choi, echoed these thoughts in his recent interview with GamesRadar when he discussed Little Devil Inside's long development process.
The game has undergone several years' worth of development, partly because of the careful attention to detail that underpins the game's aesthetics. GamesRadar also paraphrased Choi, citing "the difficulty finding local talent in a country [South Korea] where the market is still driven largely by online and mobile games."
According to Little Devil Inside’s showcase trailer, the game may be a timed exclusive on the PS5. Therefore, we expect a slightly later launch on the Xbox and Switch.
While there’s no concrete release date, we’ve do have some clues about when the game might come out. Following the Sony Square press event, SVG reported that the game could hit shelves as early as July 2021, slightly before Ghostwire: Tokyo and Stray, which will tentatively come out in October.
Little Devil Inside gameplay
Little Devil Inside started out as a Kickstarter campaign. The game's Kickstarter page is still ticking away in the background, churning out news, updates and tasty tidbits that might interest the project’s backers.
Since then, we've learned some details regarding what we can expect from Little Devil Inside's gameplay. The game is less concerned with running ragged around open-ended environments (although you can definitely do that), and more focused on interacting with the nuances of your surroundings.
The game's art style is muted, with an almost Lego-ish, blocky quality. Little Devil Inside looks like what would happen if tilt-shift camera technology had been around in the 19th century — albeit with the added threat of beasties.
Choi puts it best in his GamesRadar interview, saying: "We certainly don't intend to go too far with RPG features to be compared with other hardcore, grinding hack-and-slash RPG games. We wish to express more with less, and leave some room for the players to fill in for themselves."
Little Devil Inside trailer
The most up-to-date trailer for Little Devil Inside is the two-minute video that appeared in Sony's Future of Gaming event.
It paints a picture of what's to come, focusing on Billy as he traverses Little Devil Inside's dark and desolate environments, as well as its rich and bountiful ones. Either on horseback or on foot, Billy encounters a raft of spine-chilling monster species, but don't know yet who, or what, they are.
One gleaming-eyed colossus appears as Billy is hiding in front of a rock. This clawed carnivore has fangs as long as its legs, and it most certainly isn't looking to chat.
Other supernatural beings are downright spooky. One caped ram-type entity stands on two legs in the mist, and there's certainly nothing sheepish about this character.
Little Devil Inside controversy
Despite Little Devil Inside's popularity hasn't come without setbacks. Shortly after the trailer's release and social media's collective round of applause, viewers noticed what appeared to be racist character designs for some of the game's enemies.
In a now-suspended account, Twitch streamer LordBalvin pointed out that some of the enemies' character designs were rooted in racist portrayals of Black people in the general media. Neostream quickly backpedaled, issuing a lengthy apology on Little Devil Inside's Facebook page. The company pledged to modify the characters to expunge any stereotypical design elements.
With its house in order, Little Devil Inside seems to be on track for a smooth release. And, importantly, the game won't have any of the design elements that drew the initial criticism.
